Large International Money Transfers Discussion area

squawk

From my own experience, when making a large transfer you'll save a lot of money through a currency broker. Do you sums and don't be lead astray by places that waive the £15 transfer fee, etc.. as you might well save £hundreds on the exchange rate elsewhere. Phone around - the decimal places make a HUGE difference.

Having said that I've had a really unpleasant experience with FCD ( Foreign Currency Direct ). During the transaction they assured me I would not be subject to a penalty charge despite the fact I would be 1 day late on transfering the money to them and they also assured me the transfer would take place on the day they received my money. Nothing of the sort happened - they delayed my transfer and I had to spend a whole day of the phone to them and when I did finally get them to do it they refused until I paid a £75 penalty charge that they previously said I wouldn't be subject to!! Backmail really as they had my money and I needed the transfer urgently. Seven weeks on they keep saying they'll check their records and reply to me regarding my concern, but of course they haven't.

As these places are unregulated my advice is to use recommended brokers only.

buglawton

This has surely already been asked but anyway: Real UK banks are insured by the Govt for the 1st £25,000 lost by any customer if the Bank goes bust. These Currency Agencies are not insured by any ABTA-like scheme I assume?

[ Edit ] or what protection does "FSA regulated" confer?

corman_2

hi i'm also in this sort of position at the moment, about to sell our apartment in portugal for 107,000 euros......... whats the best recommendations for getting the euros back into this country and cheapest ways to get it converted into sterling.....
many thanks

Pond_hopper

Not sure if this really qualifies as a LARGE money problem, or indeed a transfer, but still...
My son now lives in US but still has his offshore Barclays account, opened many moons ago into which the odd few pounds are added by relatives when they still give him a birthday/christmas gift.
This was fine, as it gave him some funds to use on his visits back here when he was younger.
But now I am horrified by the scare of reading any account untouched for 15 years can be automatically closed and the money claimed back by the govenment! Is this really going to happen? It has probably been about that length of time since he touched it last so I'm very worried he might lose everything!
Also that there are so many better banks in the UK now where he could be earning some interest on this (relatively) small sum, which has grown to about 2k; but even so, to be getting some interest would be better than the zilch from Barclays!!
The problem is, since he no longer a permanent resident here, he cannot find a bank that will allow him to open up a new account in the UK to transfer this money into.
Any advice would be most welcomed.

bengal-stripe

SEPA - the Single European Payment Area will begin in January 2008 to be completed by December 2010.

It is envisaged that all the 30 countries (EURO and non EURO) within the European Economic Area (EEA) as well as Switzerland participate and introduce simple and cheap cross-border money transfers.

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, Iceland*, Liechtenstein*, Norway*, Switzerland**.

* These countries are in the EEA, but are not members of the European Union. ** Switzerland is not in the EEA.

wolfehouse

pond hopper
read this: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/money/savings/article1542957.ece

(n.b. this has been true in the usa for a long long time)

Voyager2002

Pond_hopper wrote: »

Not sure if this really qualifies as a LARGE money problem, or indeed a transfer, but still...
My son now lives in US but still has his offshore Barclays account, opened many moons ago into which the odd few pounds are added by relatives when they still give him a birthday/christmas gift.
This was fine, as it gave him some funds to use on his visits back here when he was younger.
But now I am horrified by the scare of reading any account untouched for 15 years can be automatically closed and the money claimed back by the govenment! Is this really going to happen? It has probably been about that length of time since he touched it last so I'm very worried he might lose everything!
Also that there are so many better banks in the UK now where he could be earning some interest on this (relatively) small sum, which has grown to about 2k; but even so, to be getting some interest would be better than the zilch from Barclays!!
The problem is, since he no longer a permanent resident here, he cannot find a bank that will allow him to open up a new account in the UK to transfer this money into.
Any advice would be most welcomed.

Don't worry: he just needs to drop his bank a line once in a decade to confirm that they have his correct address and that he wants to keep the balance.

peter999

wolfehouse wrote: »

pond hopper
read this: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/money/savings/article1542957.ece

"Banks and building societies are urging people with unused savings accounts to claim their money after the government announced plans to seize the cash to fund charitable work.

Treasury minister Ed Balls today unveiled proposals to claim millions of pounds that the government believes is sitting in “dormant” accounts. Money in accounts that have been left untouched for 15 years will be removed into a central fund before being distributed to good causes. Banks and building societies estimate that up to £400m could be at stake."

(n.b. this has been true in the usa for a long long time)

More Government thievery !!

peter999

Clive_Woody

corman wrote: »

whats the best recommendations for getting the euros back into this country

A large suitcase.

and cheapest ways to get it converted into sterling....

Open your own Bureau de Change and sell them to folk ready for the summer holiday season.

peter999

THRIFTY1 wrote: »

...Shop around though, there are many companies online and I bet they beat the banks hands down!!

How would you verify these are reliable & safe companies before handing over large lump sum ?? :eek:

peter999